


Volcanic Pains

by MythicDragonRider



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: (non-sexual), Ask if you want something tagged, Both by myself and other people, But ends in the 21st, Has a whole bunch of my HCs, Historical Accuracy, Historical Hetalia, How Do I Tag, I hope, Iceland gets rly cold, Implied Nudity, Intense Scenes, It starts in the 9th century haha, It's basically the history of Iceland okay, Loneliness, Minor Character Deaths, Norway is kind of mean but it's understandable, Volcanic Eruption, Volcanoes, i'll try to keep it up, nothing too major, ocs as minor characters - Freeform, that theme is kinda lost oops, uhhh, uhhhhhhh, wow i really like that dont i
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-18
Updated: 2017-07-18
Packaged: 2018-12-03 19:04:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11538537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MythicDragonRider/pseuds/MythicDragonRider
Summary: When Iceland came into consciousness, he was lonely. When he was found by his new big brother, Norway, the loneliness disappeared. After he went back to his own country, it came back, and Iceland discovers he must face the challenges of being a new nation alone.(Historical Hetalia)





	Volcanic Pains

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I know I already have three stories, but I read a fanfiction that completely messed up Iceland's character and it was the final straw. I'm really sick of him being represented as a shallow tsundere, and wanted to fix it. So, I'm writing a story about Iceland's history from his point of view. Keep in my this is my idea of what he's like and what caused him to develop the personality he has today. It also involves a whole bunch of headcanons, the most prominent of which I will put at the end of the chapter.  
> I doubt anyone will read this, but it's my way of venting my frustrations about misrepresentation and turning him into an interesting character.

There was one constant that Iceland had grown used to throughout his life, and that was the cold. Everywhere he was he felt it, even if he were walking across an ashy volcano or visiting a desert. He was accustomed to it, something that he would always feel, and after some tumultuous periods in his history, it soon became the only thing he could rely on. After all, it had been the first thing he had felt.  
Iceland had first woken up in a river. He had opened his eyes to discover he could see, kicked his legs to discover he could move, and almost drowned to discover he needed to breathe. He was freezing but his chest were burning, and he struggled immeasurably to find how he could save his new life. Suddenly having to swim, he managed to struggle to the surface, being able to breathe. Driven only by his survival instinct, he soon found himself on the shore, panting and shivering.

The first few days were simple. The cold was something that he didn't like, and it was worse after coming out of water, and he soon realised that he needed to find something to cover his body. There were only rocks and trees and other unhelpful things so the idea was impossible for a while, and he spent his days trying to fix the pain in his torso. No matter what he did, it wouldn't go away, so he began exploring in search of some helpful clue. While thinking about himself on his journey, he realised that he understood something. He understood this thing called language, and could read and write it. He didn't know where it had come from but he began to think that were maybe other things like him, which had created it and somehow implanted it in his head.  
As he walked, he saw things that didn't look like him but did act like him. They were fluffy or cold and walked or swam. He was trying to approach them but they got away, and he decided not to bother pursuing him.

After days and days of walking and sleeping and undeniable pain, he finally found something new. Things just like him - people. They were talking to each other with that language that he knew and chopping things with axes; everything that he saw clicked in his head and he was somehow able to attribute words and knowledge to them. They were wearing clothes, and they were eating, and he needed both of those things, but he was scared. The people scared him because he didn't know what he was, he didn't know how he could've appeared from nothing, because the knowledge that was steadily revealing itself to him told him that this wasn't normal. So there was really only one thing that he had to do.  
He had to steal from them.

It was surprisingly easy. He just had to wait until they were all asleep, then sneak in and find what he needed. The first time he found cooked fish, and ravenously ate it, pain finally going away. The next night he stole clothing, which was far too big for him but lessened the cold and made him feel better. His stealing continued, and soon people began to notice that their belongings were going missing. Then people were keeping watch at night and he didn't want to risk being caught. He considered trying to catch his own food but he was so small compared to the other humans and didn't know if he could manage it.  
But then he was found.

While he was hiding in the trees, watching the people and wondering how to eat, someone noticed.  
The person stuck out, without facial hair and with strange beauty. He spoke in a soft, monotone voice, and there was a part of Iceland that he did not understand, that wanted to trust this man. Maybe that's why he didn't run when the man unexpectedly entered the forest. He scrambled away a little but it was too late - the person had seen him. The man firstly had a surprised expression, but then it settled into something more tender, and he held out his hand to the young boy.  
"I won't harm you. I've been looking for you so you can be safe. I can look after you and help you survive."  
Iceland felt something with this stranger, an inexplicably formed bond. He didn't know why, but he wanted to trust him. So he took his hand, tentatively.  
The man smiled softly, "My name is Norway, but you can call me your big brother."  
Norway scooped him up in his arms.

The time that Iceland spent with his big brother was so much better than the previous days. Norway took care of him, clothed him, fed him, and he honestly couldn't be happier. When he couldn't sleep, his brother told him stories about gods and monsters and mystical powers. He dreamt about meeting those beings, fighting those monsters, and owning those powers. Norway answered all his questions, too, about what they were. 'Nations', the 'personifications of nations'. They represented all their people, their culture, their way of living. Because this new land had been founded, he had been created.  
Apparently, the human didn't know about their existence. They thought that they were just like them, and couldn't be told for fear of being hurt or imprisoned of accused of being evil. Norway was 'Hallr'.  
Iceland was allowed to choose what he was, and after being told some names, he decided - 'Einarr'.

The humans hadn't really noticed his sudden appearance, and the few people that questioned were told that Einarr had always been with them. Hallr seemed to hold some authority with them, and they didn't seem especially bright, so no more questions were asked.  
He began to grow accustomed to his life. During the day, his brother would help the men starting to build settlements and he would stay with the women, talking to them and learning about the place they had come from, the place that Norway represented. Apparently there were far more people there, and there were other 'nations', like a place called Denmark and somewhere called Sweden. He wanted to go to see these places, see what it was like outside of where he was.  
When he asked his brother, he frowned. Iceland was told that since he was an 'island', it took a while to get to him, and he couldn't undertake the journey back because he needed to be with his newly formed settlement. When he was older, he might be able to go. This troubled him, but he didn't argue because Norway knew everything and knew what was better for him.

Eventually, his big brother grew more distant from him. When Iceland asked what it was, he was told not to worry, and it began to trouble him. He bugged and bugged Norway, until finally he just told him.  
Hallr couldn't stay here. He needed to go back to his own people, and now that he had helped Iceland begin to grow into his own person, he had to leave. And Einarr cried - he sobbed and snivelled and bawled, but his brother just couldn't stay. But the thing that broke his heart the most was that Norway didn't seem too torn up about it. He seemed sad, but didn't even shed any tears and just told Iceland that everything would be okay. He would be back, someday.  
Then he left. Iceland's big brother was gone, and now he was alone with the humans.

His care was taken over by a woman called Álfdís. She took him away from the other humans and told him that she knew what he was, and wasn't going to let his identity be revealed. At first he didn't like her - after all, who could cure the loneliness that Norway had given him? He was feeling more cold without his brother's warmth, and didn't know what to do now.  
But she became something new for Iceland. She became someone he could also trust, but in a different way. Instead of being a sibling, she was a mother - she took care of him and supported him emotionally but she lacked something that Norway had, and owned something that he didn't. It was a distinctly different feeling, but it became a welcome one after he lost the only person he cared about. Soon, they became inseparable, and he could rely on her more than anything. She also gave him more freedom than his previous caretaker, knowing that he could look after himself as what he was.

Iceland began to explore the land that he represented. He saw amazing, beautiful things, as snow fell then melted away, as impossible, radiant lights filled the sky, as breathtaking scenery was laid out before him. He decided that he didn't mind the cold because the sights were astonishing, and his home was somewhere he could be happy, where he could still make friends and family.  
The wildlife was one of his favourite things. He began to grow close to the animals, noticing that they no longer shied away from him. They were wonderful things, living in the wilderness without a care in the world. Though he hated their deaths, he knew it was necessary, and tried to make up for it by spending time with those alive and occasionally letting them into his house, much to the dismay of Álfdís.

One day, something inexplicable happened. He didn't know what it was - but it was so, so terrifying.  
He was at home with his mother, talking with her about the puffins that he had seen the other day, when suddenly he heard a horribly loud noise. He had never heard anything like it, and he covered his ears instinctively. He and Álfdís ran out to see what it was, and there were giant, billowing cloud of greyness coming from somewhere further away.  
He was absolutely terrified, and he felt something within himself. A sudden pang of pain, deep in his chest, and he didn't know what to do about it. He started crying and telling his mother, who though was also scared, calmed herself to take him inside and ask about what was happening.  
They linked the pain with the noise and the cloud, and stayed inside in fear of what it might do it to them.  
While it didn't really do anything to them, the pain and the cloud lingered for weeks before they stopped, and upon talking with the other settlers, nobody else knew what it had been, either.  
Despite the fright, life continued on.

Iceland began to grow. Only a little bit, but Álfdís kept constant measurements of his height and was delighted to see that he had grown even a small amount. He was proud too, proud to know that his people's efforts were paying off. When she forgot, he began to do it, too, until he was measuring himself everyday, checking how much progress was being made, how he as a nation was growing.  
His mother started to note how mature he had become, a far cry from the sobbing little boy staring at his big brother's boat leaving the shore. It was understandable, considering how he had settled into this new life, how he had become his own person exploring the wonderful land he had been created on. Álfdís began saying that a lot, how smart he was, how brave he was. She also began to spend more time with the other humans, not seeing him as often. Then she stopped measuring at all, seemingly forgetting. One day Iceland had nervously asked if she was abandoning him.  
At this, she had started crying.

She started a long and winding speech about how he, as a nation, would grow very old, and because of this he would live beyond the people who he cared about. Iceland didn't understand at the time, didn't understand why she was crying so much.  
He understood when she died within the next week.  
When it happened, the young nation just couldn't handle it. He ran away, ran from the people who had explained her passing to him, ran from the settlement - all that he was. He had ran up hills and tripped over rocks and fell into streams until finally he stopped, panting and wiping away his tears on the top of a cliff. He sat down and started sobbing into his knees, the group of puffins around him tilting their heads curiously.  
"Stop looking at me!" he screamed at them, and they all flew off, leaving him alone, leaving him so, so alone. He started crying even more once he had done that.

Only after an unmeasurable amount of time did he notice that one of them was still there, watching him with what was almost a look of concern on its little bird face. Iceland rubbed away his tears (though they kept falling) and started talking to the puffin.  
"I'm sorry for scaring off your friends. Something bad happened. Not that you would understand, though."  
Though the bird didn't know what he was saying, it came up to him, squawking quietly. The nation sighed.  
"Sorry, little puffin. You can stay with me if you want, but I don't know what good that would do for you."  
The next squawk almost sounded like it was agreeing with him , and Iceland laughed a bit, spirits lifted by a stubborn bird which almost seemed like it wanted to cheer him up.  
"Oh, calling you a little puffin is rude. I might even be younger than you… Hm, how about Mr. Puffin? Yes, that suits you!"  
Mr. Puffin looked like he was nodding, and then hopped onto Iceland's shoulder. The boy laughed through his tears again.  
"You can stay with me, yes…"

He felt a bit better as he stood up and the bird stayed on his shoulder, and he began to walk back home.

**Author's Note:**

> Side notes:  
> 1\. Because it is mentioned in his character song that he's blood brothers with Norway, and it's implied that nations either come from settlers or a group of native people, he was formed when Norway came. He was not formed from the possible Irish who visited him because of the line in his song.  
> 2\. One of the headcanons I used is one I found on the Internet long ago that I probably can't find again. It's that nations have the ability to have one 'pet' that they can keep alive. This is why Mr. Puffin shows up in the 900s and he's still alive in present day.


End file.
